Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

tough an d went out. Dukie, who was encouraged by brother Sam before his last ride, finished last when a second place would have been enough to ge t him throu gh . This was Dukie 's first Overseas Final in a year when he has improved greatly on the British scene . Surely his time will yet come; he simply needs some fine tuning. His first ride s a w h im b eat England's Joe Screen, but from then on things started to go wrong. Flyin ' Mike Faria mana ged jus t a couple of thi rd pla ces, but he 's alr eady done enough to suggest that he could h a v e one fi n a l b la st on th e Brit ish scene. He was, not surp risingly, downhearted immediately after the racing, but time will tell him tha t he rode well to get there and has done his reputation no harm. For mer Worl d Cham pion Gary Havelock fou nd the going tough, but this was no great shock as he suffered a broken collarbone in a British League match at Ipswich just 10 days previously. Like Dukie, he won h is fir st ride, but three last plac es put him out of the hunt and off the title trail. Joe Screen, th e young man from Chesterfield, England, for whom the Bradford Du kes team paid some $47,000 over the winter, was a shocking non-qualifier. This time last year Screen was almost unstoppable, but at Coventry he never won a race all afternoon and goes to a semifinal only as a reserve . As one of Britain's brightest hopes, this hardly went down very w ell , but it must be mentioned that Screen wa s a victim of the lack of team spi rit in the English camp. New British managers John Louis and James East er cam e under fire for n ot ins tr u cti ng Jer em y Doncaster to allow Screen through in his fina l outing. With Chri s Lou is out in front an d looking good, Doncaster was tucked in behind and appeared to shield Lou is from the persistent efforts of Screen. At the end of the race, with Screen finishin g in third p lace, th e Brad ford rider ma de his feelings known in no uncertain terms. There was even talk of him refusing to race for Louis an d Easter while the y are in charge of the English contingent. Reigning Overseas Champion Martin Dugard was also a shocking nonqu alifier after a w oeful performance which underlined the fact that he is not (Left) Controversial move? Ermolenko drifted wide off the last corner In heat 19, and fellow Amer ican Josh Larsen (center) slipped under for the win, earning enough points to qualify. (Below) For the second tlme In as many world rounds, Billy Hamill (right) rallied late In th e meetlng to secu re a spot In the semifinals. This heat·16 wi n ove r Hancoc k (center) was cru cial. (Bonom)Ermo lenko Is flanked by Hancock (left) and Boyce (right) after the event. Each will be randomly seeded Into one of two semifinals. qui te world-class material yet. Th e Eagle from Eastbourne on the so u th coast of England was hoping to make it all the way to Vojens, but he was not good enough on the da y. Sam Ermolenko w as h ead and shoulders above the rest, and totally deserved the victo ry. Even in his second ride, when he missed the gate, he still made light work of taking Craig Boyce on the fourth turn to nail the win. All he needed to do in his final ride was beat Greg Hancock to take the title, and that's just what he did without too man y problems - desp ite missin g out to Larsen, who must h ave tho ught it was his birthday. Ermolenko has a testimonial at Wolverhampton on July 31, an d he is sure to attract plenty of support aft er winning more frien ds at Coventry. After th e meet ing it was revealed that Larsen had t u r ned d own the opportunity to return to British Speed way with the Bradford Dukes. A big track would be perfect for Larsen, but rig ht now he has no plans to return on a full -ti me basis to British Speedway. Th er e is n o doub t, however, that Larsen wo uld fie more than capable of doing a soli d job in the British League. He may yet go on and reach his first World Final, as he is showing the sort of form which makes every promoter sit up and take notice. Billy Hamill looked high in to th e Coventry sky and sai d, H can hardly I believe I'v e made it!" The Bullet was Family matters trouble England furious row erupted in the English team camp at the Overseas Final after the Under-21 World Champion failed to qualify for the World Championship Semifinals. The argument was that Screen was blocked out in his final ride while trying to pass Jeremy Doncaster to earn the two points which would have put him in a run-off with fellow Englishmen Mark Loram and Chris Louis, and American Billy Hamill for the final three qualifying sJ'

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